Temperatures will be in 40s from Friday through Monday. I bought an even smaller sniper coil, 5 inch diameter as opposed to 6 inch, that I'll be trying out soon.
I detected for about four hours yesterday, split between my favorite park and the new site. I found a bunch of coins; but, none of them were old. Looks like the weather will be mild for the next couple of days.
It was sunny with a high of 64 yesterday and I got to go shopping with my wife. The day before it was overcast and drizzley and of course we stayed home. Today it was drizzle and rain.
I finally dug my first Barber dime today. It's a very worn 1903. It was in my favorite park, the place that I keep thinking must be hunted out, lol. It was only about six inches deep, next to some iron. The signal was clear on the Etrac; but, I can see how someone else might have passed it up, thinking that it would be iron falsing.
The weather was nice today. The girlfriend and I went out briefly to where I dug the Barber dime the other day. The only old coin we found was a 1942 wheat cent.
I dug one hole that contained a coin spill of three quarters and four dimes. She calls it the jackpot hole, lol.
Nice Barber dime. It's a great feeling getting an iffy signal to start, then hearing that high tone when it's out of the hole. Happened to me last year with a Capped bust dime. Very iffy signal on the e-trac. Sounded mostly like iron falsing, but something about it said to try digging.
Pinpointed, but unfortunately I scraped the rim. Was excited to see it was silver, but then upset/angry that I scraped it. The tough part about pinpointing is it's all metal mode.
Do you have saturated wet ground right now? That can bring out some surprise finds.
Looking at the weather for the next few days, I think my metal detecting season is over for the remainder of 2014.
I started metal detecting on July 1, 2013; so, this was my first full year of metal detecting. Last year I found four silver dimes, an 1806 British half penny, a few pieces of silver jewelry, and lots of clad. This year I also found lots of clad, plus the following:
Silver: 1 Barber dime (first I have ever found) 9 Mercury dimes 1 Silver Roosevelt dime 1 40% Silver half dollar (first I have ever found) 1 George VI Australian six pence Lots of silver rings and pendants
Obsolete non-silver coins: 4 Indian cents (including my first ever) 2 Liberty nickels (including my first ever) 3 Buffalo nickels (including my first ever) Approximately 87 Wheat cents
Gold: 1 gold religious medallion (first gold I have ever found) 1 gold ring 1 chain marked 14K that I believe is fake
It was somewhat mild here for a couple of weeks but I didn't make it out hunting. Now it's getting bone-chilling cold, single digits overnight tonight is the forecast. I'm supposed to go on a club hunt on Jan. 18, so hopefully the temps are more reasonable by then.
Edit to add: I was wrong, the club outing was going to be this Sunday, Jan. 11. I say "was going to be" because I just got word it's cancelled due to the frozen ground. I guess it's time for me to take the batteries out of my detector for a while.
It was just barely warm enough for some detecting today. My favorite park had some patches of ground covered with snow, bare patches that were frozen, and other bare patches that were not frozen.
I recently learned that this park had a baseball diamond back in the 1940s, although there is now no trace of the diamond. Today I dug up a 1944 wheat cent right about where I believe third base was located on the old baseball diamond. That was the only old coin I found today. I also dug up about $2 of clad.
This was my first detecting opportunity in four weeks. I've never been able to detect in January before and enjoyed getting out.
I dug my first ever silver quarter today. It's a 1952-D and is my first silver coin of the year. It was in my favorite hunted out park, not far from where I dug the Barber dime last month.
I also dug four wheat cents today. In fact, that's how I found the quarter. I dug up a 1940 wheat cent and then slowly combed the surrounding area.
We're expecting a foot of snow tomorrow, not sure when I'll get to detect again.
I've dug at least one silver coin each month from September through January. I don't think I'm even going to get a chance to hunt in February. The ground is covered with snow, and there are low temperatures forecast for the next ten days.
Yep... Here in NYS, the ground is covered by 18 inches of snow and temperatures are very cold (4 below here this morning)....No MD'ing in foreseeable future.... Cheers, RickO
I visited my three favorite parks today. Two of them were completely covered with snow. The third park had a small area that was not covered by snow, and this happened to be the exact area where I was hoping to hunt today.
The ground was half frozen; but, with much labor, I was able to dig a 1940 wheat cent from 5 or 6 inches deep. I also dug up 8 or 10 modern coins in a 90 minute hunt. I passed on digging some other good deep signals that I will revisit after some additional thawing.
I went out again today and managed to dig four wheat cents, a 1940 plus a trio of 1944. I also dug 1941 and 1948 nickels. The 1948 nickel was located near home plate of the former 1940s baseball diamond, and it was deep. I was half expecting a Buffalo when I dug it.
The ground is still half frozen, but easier to dig than yesterday. It was soft enough that I didn't mind digging a pile of clad.
I went to the hunted out park for the third day in a row today. I was just about ready to quit and go home when I got a faint deep signal. It was repeatable from both directions; but, I couldn't tell if it was a wheat cent or a silver dime. I dug through the half frozen ground, literally chopping out solid clumps of cold earth. Once I got a signal from my pinpointer, I dug less aggressively because I didn't want to inadvertently damage the target. At 7 or 8 inches deep, I removed a half frozen clump of dirt that my pinpointer said contained the target. I snapped it in half and tried the pinpointer again. I cracked open the portion of dirt that contained the signal and was pleased to see a silver rim. It was a 1928 Mercury dime. I've never seen a stronger imprint in the dirt from a coin. This imprint looked exactly like the backwards obverse of a Mercury dime and it shined like a wet black mirror. It was a frozen dirt mirror, wish I had taken a photo of it. I also dug 1920 and 1954-D wheat cents, plus a pile of clad.
I went out yet again and found three wheat cents: 1913, 1944, and 1946-D. The ground was completely thawed and easy to dig at this site. The place where I dug Indian cents late last year is still half frozen; but, I'm hoping to go there on Monday.
That Merc (the 1928) is a really nice find.... I have been starting to build a set of Mercury dimes....so may do some park hunting this year. Still have an old sledding site to check in this area...was a pasture years ago, now overgrown with trees and shrubs...but I am sure there is silver there... Cheers, RickO
Today the girlfriend and I revisited a school site that we tried last September without much success. Today I dug a 1954-D dime and two wheat cents, 1937 and 1945. They were all 6 to 7 inches deep.
I went to a new place today and dug eight wheat cents including 1925, 1927, 1928, and 1930. The 1928 and 1930 were together in the same hole. The latest wheat was a 1944-D. This is the most wheat cents that I've ever dug in one day. They were all six inches deep and located in the same relatively small area.
I tried two tone ferrous at the new place today and found a 1943-P war nickel plus a very rusty steel cent. After switching back to multi-tone conductive, I also found a 1928 Buffalo nickel and a 1945 wheat cent. This is the first war nickel that I have ever found.
<< <i>I tried TTF on the etrac and couldn't really find much luck with it. People swear by it though. Maybe I hadn't given it enough chance? >>
This was my first time using TTF. I'm not sure that I'm a fan. When I hunt in multi-tone conductive, I use a fairly elaborate discrimination pattern. When using TTF, I use almost no discrimination. Consequently, TTF is very noisy in the trashy parks I hunt.
Everything old that I have pulled out of this particular park has been at a uniform 6 inch depth. Today I decided that I would dig any signal at 6 inches that wasn't iron, and TTF was ideal for this plan.
TTF has some drawbacks. I needed to look at the screen whenever I got a non-iron tone to see if the numbers were worth digging. Also, it's difficult to pinpoint when you're pulling targets out of iron infested ground, although the same problem would exist in multi-tone conductive.
I will primarily hunt in multi-tone conductive, but, will try TTF whenever I think I've got a productive area nearly cleaned out.
that was kind of my problem too in TTF, the detector was a bit chatty. In the area I tried it, it was worth digging every signal, but it seemed to keep falsing on iron, which was a bit frustrating. So I just went back to the standard screen. I left it pretty open and tried not to discriminate too much, only blocking out metals with a ferrous reading over 26, essentially only iron.
Not sure what the CTX has for options, but will have to poke around to see. Some people use what's called Target Trace on there, but not too familiar with it just yet. Really do enjoy the Minelab machines.
The girlfriend and I returned to the school where I dug up a silver dime last week. Today I dug every good tone that was 6 or more inches deep. I got a 1938 Jefferson nickel and 4 wheat cents.
I was really hoping that deep nickel signal was going to be a Buffalo, lol. That being said, when searching through hundreds and hundreds of nickel rolls back in the 1970s, I never once found a 1938.
Yesterday's snow cleared away much faster than I expected. I had a great day of detecting today, my second best day ever. I only had about two hours to detect and went to the new place again.
After over an hour of swinging, I hadn't found much and was starting to wonder if maybe the new place had been picked clean. Then, I suddenly got a strong signal and dug a 1936 Mercury dime at 6 or 7 inches deep. I kept swinging after that, but, wasn't finding much of anything. Once a light rain started coming down, I decided to make my way toward the car and go home.
I was within 40 yards of the car when I got another strong signal at 6 inches deep. It was a 1946 silver dime. Two minutes later, and a few feet away, I got a slightly less encouraging signal; but, it was a 1948-D silver dime. I also dug a 1944 wheat cent today.
This is only the second time that I have dug three silver coins on the same day.
I went to the new place yesterday with my oversize coil and didn't find any old coins. I went back today with my small sniper coil and only found a wheat cent before switching back to my stock coil. I then found a 1958-D dime and another wheat cent. This is my 9th U.S. silver coin for 2015. I only found 12 for all of 2014, lol.
<< <i>Really ripping up the silver this year! What's your oldest silver so far? >>
Oldest silver = 1903 Barber dime Oldest U.S. coin = 1889 Indian cent Oldest coin = 1806 British half penny
A year of experience has really made a difference in my skill level for finding deep coins. The deep ones are about all that remains in the hunted out parks I frequent. Focusing on areas with concentrations of wheat cents and going very slowly seems to be the right formula.
The girlfriend and I spent last week on vacation in Florida. I brought the detector; but, we never really had time to use it, lol. Today we went to the school site where I dug up a 1954-D dime recently. She sat in a lawn chair and talked to her mom on the phone while I dug up a 1927 Mercury dime. It was the only old coin I found today.
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Lafayette Grading Set
I dug one hole that contained a coin spill of three quarters and four dimes. She calls it the jackpot hole, lol.
Pinpointed, but unfortunately I scraped the rim. Was excited to see it was silver, but then upset/angry that I scraped it. The tough part about pinpointing is it's all metal mode.
Do you have saturated wet ground right now? That can bring out some surprise finds.
<< <i>Do you have saturated wet ground right now? That can bring out some surprise finds. >>
The ground here is dry. We haven't had hardly any rain and no accumulations of snow.
I started metal detecting on July 1, 2013; so, this was my first full year of metal detecting. Last year I found four silver dimes, an 1806 British half penny, a few pieces of silver jewelry, and lots of clad. This year I also found lots of clad, plus the following:
Silver:
1 Barber dime (first I have ever found)
9 Mercury dimes
1 Silver Roosevelt dime
1 40% Silver half dollar (first I have ever found)
1 George VI Australian six pence
Lots of silver rings and pendants
Obsolete non-silver coins:
4 Indian cents (including my first ever)
2 Liberty nickels (including my first ever)
3 Buffalo nickels (including my first ever)
Approximately 87 Wheat cents
Gold:
1 gold religious medallion (first gold I have ever found)
1 gold ring
1 chain marked 14K that I believe is fake
Lafayette Grading Set
Edit to add: I was wrong, the club outing was going to be this Sunday, Jan. 11. I say "was going to be" because I just got word it's cancelled due to the frozen ground. I guess it's time for me to take the batteries out of my detector for a while.
I recently learned that this park had a baseball diamond back in the 1940s, although there is now no trace of the diamond. Today I dug up a 1944 wheat cent right about where I believe third base was located on the old baseball diamond. That was the only old coin I found today. I also dug up about $2 of clad.
This was my first detecting opportunity in four weeks. I've never been able to detect in January before and enjoyed getting out.
I also dug four wheat cents today. In fact, that's how I found the quarter. I dug up a 1940 wheat cent and then slowly combed the surrounding area.
We're expecting a foot of snow tomorrow, not sure when I'll get to detect again.
The ground was half frozen; but, with much labor, I was able to dig a 1940 wheat cent from 5 or 6 inches deep. I also dug up 8 or 10 modern coins in a 90 minute hunt. I passed on digging some other good deep signals that I will revisit after some additional thawing.
The ground is still half frozen, but easier to dig than yesterday. It was soft enough that I didn't mind digging a pile of clad.
I got three more wheat cents (1934-1947), an old fashioned looking sterling silver lapel pin that says "Future Nurses Club," and a 1945 Mercury dime.
I also dug an interesting pendant or charm for a 1949 YMCA basketball championship.
<< <i>I tried TTF on the etrac and couldn't really find much luck with it. People swear by it though. Maybe I hadn't given it enough chance? >>
This was my first time using TTF. I'm not sure that I'm a fan. When I hunt in multi-tone conductive, I use a fairly elaborate discrimination pattern. When using TTF, I use almost no discrimination. Consequently, TTF is very noisy in the trashy parks I hunt.
Everything old that I have pulled out of this particular park has been at a uniform 6 inch depth. Today I decided that I would dig any signal at 6 inches that wasn't iron, and TTF was ideal for this plan.
TTF has some drawbacks. I needed to look at the screen whenever I got a non-iron tone to see if the numbers were worth digging. Also, it's difficult to pinpoint when you're pulling targets out of iron infested ground, although the same problem would exist in multi-tone conductive.
I will primarily hunt in multi-tone conductive, but, will try TTF whenever I think I've got a productive area nearly cleaned out.
Not sure what the CTX has for options, but will have to poke around to see. Some people use what's called Target Trace on there, but not too familiar with it just yet. Really do enjoy the Minelab machines.
I was really hoping that deep nickel signal was going to be a Buffalo, lol. That being said, when searching through hundreds and hundreds of nickel rolls back in the 1970s, I never once found a 1938.
After over an hour of swinging, I hadn't found much and was starting to wonder if maybe the new place had been picked clean. Then, I suddenly got a strong signal and dug a 1936 Mercury dime at 6 or 7 inches deep. I kept swinging after that, but, wasn't finding much of anything. Once a light rain started coming down, I decided to make my way toward the car and go home.
I was within 40 yards of the car when I got another strong signal at 6 inches deep. It was a 1946 silver dime. Two minutes later, and a few feet away, I got a slightly less encouraging signal; but, it was a 1948-D silver dime. I also dug a 1944 wheat cent today.
This is only the second time that I have dug three silver coins on the same day.
<< <i>Really ripping up the silver this year! What's your oldest silver so far? >>
Oldest silver = 1903 Barber dime
Oldest U.S. coin = 1889 Indian cent
Oldest coin = 1806 British half penny
A year of experience has really made a difference in my skill level for finding deep coins. The deep ones are about all that remains in the hunted out parks I frequent. Focusing on areas with concentrations of wheat cents and going very slowly seems to be the right formula.